The present invention relates to the decoration of bottles and the like, and more particularly to decoration of bottles by means of heat transfer labelling.
Decorating systems using heat transfer labels have received widespread commercial acceptance over the last decade. Such decorating systems are typically characterized by conveyors for feeding the objects to be labelled, usually bottles; turrets for sequentially positioning the bottles at a label station; a feed mechanism for transporting labels supported by a carrier web to the labelling station; and a device for placing a label against an adjacent bottle at the labelling station. Examples of such systems appear in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,981,432; 3,036,624; 3,064,714; 3,208,897; 3,231,448; 3,261,734; 3,313,667; 3,709,755; and 3,861,896.
A problem which poses great challenges in designing apparatus for heat transfer labelling is that of the variety of containers which may be encountered in such labelling applications. It is known in the prior art to adapt the labelling apparatus for decoration of containers of a particular shape. U.S. Pat. No. 2,981,433 discloses a machine for cylindrical bottles and U.S. Pat. No. 3,208,897 discloses a machine for bottles having oval cross-sections. Apparatus of these types suffer the limitation that they are not readily adaptable to a wide variety of bottle cross-sections.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,540,968, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, discloses a mechanism of a similar type as that of the present invention, for decorating articles of a noncircular shape. The apparatus is designed to maintain at a constant value the peripheral velocity of the rotating article to match that of the carrier web. This apparatus also includes the feature of controlling the location of the article's axis. This apparatus represents an ingenious solution to the problems inherent in decoration of noncircular articles, but suffers the limitation that the transfer roll is frictionally driven by the rotating article, thereby creating a probability of undesirable distortion of the labels. The use of a sprocket or gear to control article rotation, as taught in this patent, will result in a "polygon effect," wherein the label transfer has an undesirable segmented appearance.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to achieve apparatus for transferring labels from a carrier web to articles having a variety of cross-sections. A related object is the provision of decorating apparatus which may be easily adapted to the requirements of a particular use.
Another object of the invention is the avoidance of labelling distortions when decorating articles of unusual shapes. A related object is the coordination of a label-bearing web with the motion of an article to be labelled.
A further object of the invention is the achievement of apparatus which enables precise speed control over article motion in order to match the motion of a label-bearing web. A related object is an even, distortion-free appearance of the transferred label.